Council Decision (EU) 2017/817 of 11 May 2017 establishing the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the World Trade Organisation on the modification of paragraph C(ii) of Annex 3 to the WTO Agreement as regards the frequency of WTO Trade Policy Reviews and of the rules of procedure of the Trade Policy Review Body

The position to be taken on behalf of the Union within the General Council of the World Trade Organisation shall be to join the consensus to amend paragraph C(ii) of Annex 3 to the WTO Agreement to extend by one year the cycles of Trade Policy Reviews of WTO Members. The review cycles in paragraph C(ii) of Annex 3 to the WTO Agreement depend on the share of world trade and currently stand at two, four or six years. They will be replaced, respectively, by cycles of three, five or seven years. This position shall be expressed by the Commission at the upcoming meeting of the General Council.

The position to be taken on behalf of the Union within the Trade Policy Review Body shall be to join the consensus to amend the TPRB's rules of procedure, as envisaged in Document WT/RD/TPR/745. This position shall be expressed by the Commission at an upcoming meeting of the TPRB.

After its adoption, the amendment of paragraph C(ii) of Annex 3 to the WTO Agreement, as notified by the WTO, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.